Page 31 of The Syndicates Hostage

Raniero cut the engine and then turned in his seat to face me, a serious look on his face.

“I didn’t want to have to do this this way, but my father is forcing my hand. In this club, I am your dom and you are my sub. Do you know what that means?” He asked and I nodded.

“It means you are my dominant and I am your submissive.”

“Yes, but it also means that you are my property, for lack of a better term. If you need a drink, ask me for one, do not getone yourself, no one will speak to you once they find out you are mine.”

“Why not?”

“Because they will be frightened of repercussions if they upset you or speak to you out of turn. If you are my sub, people in here will only be able to speak to you if they have permission, unless they feel they are more dominant than me, and trust me, no one in there is more dominant than me. Except for Zane, because it is his place. If Zane speaks to you, you may speak back but do not address him first. Understand?”

“I guess…” I fidgeted in my seat. “That’s just… a lot of rules.”

And I wasn’t completely sure I agreed with it all. I couldn’t speak unless spoken to. I was his property? The idea of these things rubbed me the wrong way, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I was acting as his submissive and the last few times I had during sex, I had liked it. He had tied me up and blew my mind, maybe I could act the part in public and have a similar effect. It would be safer, that was for sure, and I wouldn’t be able to get into trouble with people I didn’t know if I was asking permission to speak and they couldn’t talk to me.

“There are, but they are in place to keep you safe. I am in charge of keeping you safe, darling, even while we have a little fun.”

“What… kind of fun will we be having?” I asked and he looked at me for a long moment.

“Hopefully not too much fun, but we have to put on a show. Now, don’t forget, in here call me SIr at all times. And whatever you do, don’t take this off.” He said and reached into his vest pocket. He brought out a velvet box that was thin and about the size of his pocket as a whole. He handed it to me and I opened it, looking from him to the necklace inside, and back.

It was a gold chain, though the interlocking links made it look like chainmail all the way around with a green silk ribbonrunning through it. On the end of the chain was what looked like a heart-shaped lock that had an emerald embedded in it on one side and a hole for a key on the other. I touched the emerald with my left hand and smiled. It matched my wedding ring that glittered proudly on my ring finger in the street lamp light.

“It’s beautiful.” I told him and he took the box from me, pulling the chain out of the bed of velvet. He unclasped it reached forward and put it around my neck. He clasped it and pulled a chain out from around his neck; a necklace I wasn’t able to see because of the dress shirt. It was a simple chain with a small key on the end of it. In the center of the key was a green gem.

“I have the key, which means you are mine. This is a special honor for a sub. Normally there is a ceremony when a dom collars a sub, but I figure we had our wedding papers signed and that's all the ceremony either of us needs. If someone refers to your collar, they are talking about that necklace.”

I nodded and touched the lock around my neck. The whole thing was heavier than I imagined it would be, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was just like the necklace was trying to remind me it had meaning. That it was much more important than it seemed.

Raniero put his necklace away and started getting out of the car.

“Thank you.” I blurted. He turned back to me with a questioning look on his face. “For the necklace. It might mean more to you than it does to me, but I get that this is extremely important, and I… It means a lot so thank you.”

He smiled at me and leaned in to kiss my cheek.

“Thank you for understanding.” He whispered, then left the car.

Following his lead, I got out too.

Raniero

Anita’s heels clicked on the pavement as we headed to the entrance of the club which happened to be on the side of the building connected to the parking lot. The tall brick building loomed overhead; no windows or other doors aside from the one in front of us with the olive green awning. On either side of the door were two large men. One had skin as dark as the black of my vest and was about three times my size. The other man was slightly smaller than the first but was just as intimidating with pale white skin that was covered in tattoos.

They looked at us both as we approached and I made sure to link my arm through hers so it was obvious she was with me. The two men nodded and continued watching the parking lot as I led Anita past them and through the door between them into the dark hallway. When the door closed behind us all the light we had to see came from small emergency lights in the ceiling about 20 feet up.

“They didn’t check your idea or anything?” She wondered, looking back at the now-closed door. Around us, musicthrummed against the walls and was even loud enough to vibrate the very center of me.

I shook my head and took her hand in mine.

“No, Vinny and Kal know who I am by sight and anyone with me is my business, not theirs.” I explained. She nodded and we began down the hallway to a set of stairs that took us to another part of the hallway.

This one wasn’t very long and ended in another door. This door was all black with a satin covering. I hesitated before opening it, not wanting to introduce Anita to this world and at the same time wondering what she would make of it. Would she like what she saw? Would she enjoy it? Would she be disgusted by what she saw?

I waited only a moment longer before taking a deep breath and pushing the door open. Instantly, the music became clearer and louder as the noise of the club erupted with it. Ignoring it as best I could, I pulled her through to the balcony that overlooked the dance floor.

Beneath us a sea of people danced; some with drinks in their hands, some with partners, others just by themselves. All of them were dressed in some sort of fetish or bondage gear so there were lots of people in black leather straps, chains, and collars. There was a DJ on a stage to the right and to the left of the dance floor there was a bar that wrapped around a good portion of the dance floor. I knew there were a few rooms available on this floor, but the real fun happened on the lower levels.

Anita looked over the side and I wanted to snatch her away, bring her back to the car, and go home. A night of watching movies and drinking hot chocolate sounded a lot better than going down there right then, which shocked me and weirded me out all at the same time. I used to love this place. I had come here plenty of times, both with people and by myself, and had neverhad an issue. Not once had I wanted to go home. This place had always been the goal; my playground.

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